Letters to the Editor Tuesday

I was appalled to see the pushing and fighting by people trying to get holiday gifts.

Thanksgiving is a day of thanks for our family and friends and to gather together. Now we are actually opening stores and fighting for gifts on Thanksgiving Day.

How about the ones who don't have a family and a place to sleep?

Give warm clothes and gifts to the homeless and needy.

SANDY ANDERSON

Savannah

Cay Building adds a touch of class

I just came back from a trip to the downtown area. It is the first time that I've gotten a real look at the Cay Building at Ellis Square and I can't really express how impressed I am with the finishing of the structure in its entirety.

It is wonderful to see that indeed it can be done.

The finishing touches such as the clock, the exterior lamps, the lobby finishes and the brass mail boxes are just a few of the things I noticed in passing, but was unable to park to check it more closely.

It is truly heart-warming. Hurrah to everyone involved.

FRANCISCO ARCHILLA

Savannah

Vigorous debate is the lifeblood of our republic

It's fashionable for different political beliefs and ideologies to want to squelch opposing viewpoints contained in newspaper editorials.

Although there may be a sense of satisfaction in denying an individual their opportunity to express a viewpoint abhorrent to one's own, it ultimately reduces the ability to recognize the truth from fiction.

Leonard Pitts writes, in my opinion, far left columns with which I vehemently disagree, but I would no more want to see his column, nor the columns of Charles Krauthammer, removed from the editorial page due to disagreements with his ideology.

Debate and reasoned discussion are the lifeblood of a thriving constitutional republic and should remain so as long as there are avenues for expressing opinion.

Belief in our Constitution, and especially the Bill of Rights, has given birth to a nation that holds paramount its very meaning.

So let's treasure Pitts and Krauthammer and Cal Thomas and others for the thoughts and words they give us courtesy of the First Amendment.

Let us never forget that the protections contained in the amendment apply not only to those words with which we agree, but to those that need protecting from censorship.

You have not waited for all of the information from the intelligence community to become available before adopting this extreme partisan position toward the administration. Even as Ambassador Rice was expressing the information that she received from the Office of National Intelligence that "the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by demonstrations at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the US Diplomatic Post in Benghazi," she further stated that "the FBI investigation was ongoing and we will await to receive from them a more definitive answer as to exactly what happened".

How could this be lying?

The New York Post on Nov. 21 reported "an intelligence source told CBS that the links to al-Qaeda were deemed too tenuous to make public because of a lack of confidence in the person providing the information" at the time that the talking points were given to Ambassador Rice.

The full information came out when they were able to report it. So what is the issue, except partisanship?

You have a duty to publish facts, not partisan rhetoric.

JIMMIE SNOOKS

Springfield

Why it's difficult to debate a liberal

In response to Gary Collins letter (Nov. 20), "Political thank-you note," I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I am sick and tired of being accused of hate because I didn't vote for President Obama.

Hate would have to be the only reason one could possibly have for voting against Obama? It couldn't have anything to do with his policies?

I guess if he was white, no one would have voted against him.

There is an old joke that turns out not to be a joke but the truth. "What is definition of a racist?" Anyone who wins an argument against a liberal.